CHAPTER 267: CHAPTER 262: DRAGGING PILL TECHNIQUE! A METHOD TO AVOID DANGER!_1

In the heart of Eastern Forest Market City, there were both rented courtyards and cave dwellings specially provided by the market.

Compared to the Barren Extreme Land, everything in Eastern Forest Market City was much pricier. Renting a cave dwelling cost as much as three Spirit Stones, and Jia Ren rented a No. 1 Alphabet Cave Dwelling with an Earth Fire for one thousand Spirit Stones for a period of one year.

The Insect External Incarnation and his true self had yet to meet. The Incarnation rented a courtyard in a different area, and they lived separately.

This was to prevent anyone from connecting the Insect External Incarnation with his true self, ensuring safety.

The probing within the Demon-Sealing Tower always gave him an ominous premonition, so it was best to be cautious.

If anything unexpected happened, the risks and troubles would be borne by the Insect External Incarnation, without implicating his true self.

White Innate True Fire pulsed in the palm of the Insect External Incarnation, and the Jade Slip containing the Qilong Pill Prescription rapidly melted into white jade liquid, dripping through its fingers.

How can I get the refining methods for the Demon-Sealing Tower?

Magic Artifacts and Magical Treasures are different. Similarly, the Inscription of Magical Instruments and the Inscription of Magical Treasures are on two different levels, with a qualitative gap between them.

If a Magic Artifact-level Town Ghoul Inscription is used to craft a Magical Treasure, the result would be a pseudo-Magical Treasure, unable to unleash the full power of a genuine Magical Treasure.

The power is inferior, and the potential for growth is even worse.

Jia Ren wanted to forge a Demon-Sealing Tower for his own use. It would be best if he could reference the crafting method of a real Demon-Sealing Tower Magical Treasure.

Almost forgot, the Town Demon Alliance should have the refining method for the Demon-Sealing Tower, right?

Thinking of this, his eyes brightened, and he quickly pulled out the exchange list, searching carefully.

It didn’t take long before he found the refining methods for the Demon-Sealing Tower.

Sealing Demon Tower (Simplified) Refining Method: A small-sized Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, exchange price five million Town Demon Alliance contribution points.

Sealing Demon Tower (Extreme) Refining Method: A large-sized Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, exchange price eighty million Town Demon Alliance contribution points.

A minimum of five million Town Demon Alliance contribution points?! The price for the refining method of a Demon-Sealing Magical Treasure was extraordinarily expensive!

Considering that the refining method could be passed down through generations within Sects, he came to terms with the cost.

The legacy of a method is far more precious than a treasure, with immeasurable value.

If not for the goal of enhancing the Great Sects’ ability to combat Bizarre Demons, the Town Demon Alliance wouldn’t have listed the refining method.

Accumulating thirty thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points was already a headache, let alone five million—the amount was staggering.

Unless he brought out his core treasures, there was hardly a chance of exchange.

First, he had to earn thirty thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points and exchange for the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus before considering the Demon-Sealing Tower.

Time to start concocting pills!

The required ingredients and concoction methods for the Qilong Pill flowed through his mind. The Insect External Incarnation and his true self shared information. Relying on a Cultivator’s eidetic memory, he had already memorized the Qilong Pill Prescription.

Most of the Spiritual Medicines are easy to come by, but there are a few rare ones that are hard to purchase.

Five Hundred Year Green Snake Poison Orchid, Five Hundred Year Youqing Fruit, Three Hundred Year Seven Extremes Bitter Root...

Good thing I’m well-prepared...

Fearing he might not find the Qilong Pill ingredients in Eastern Forest Market City, Jia Ren had brought all other necessary Spiritual Medicines, aside from those cultivated in his Spirit Medicine Garden.

His Spiritual Medicine Repository, stocked from the Five Spirits Medicine Garden, the Corpse Demon Sect Treasure Vault, and various other sources, rivaled that of a small Sect.

Of all the ingredients, the Five Hundred Year Youqing Fruit was the scarcest; in total, he could at most concoct fifteen batches.

He was unsure of the Qilong Pill’s success rate. However, with fifteen batches, even a minimum yield of two pills per batch would result in thirty pills, enough to exchange for three hundred thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points.

This was definitely sufficient to obtain the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus.

To be on the safe side, the Insect External Incarnation went to purchase more Spiritual Medicines.

His true self stayed quietly in the cave dwelling, studying the Qilong Pill Prescription.

Alchemy wasn’t just about rigidly following the recipe’s methods to concoct an Elixir.

Such an approach would only limit the Alchemist to the recipe creator’s level, offering no chance to surpass it.

An Alchemist had to deduce the interactions and hierarchy of ingredients based on the recipe, medicinal herb ratios, and concoction methods, crafting the Elixir by understanding the creator’s mindset.

Let’s begin!

Inside the Earth Fire room of the No. 1 Alphabet Cave Dwelling, the Five Element Spirit Cauldron was placed at the mouth of the Earth Fire vent. He cast spells into it, and twelve dragon-headed statues spouted dense and swirling Earth Fire.

The brassy body of the Five Element Spirit Cauldron became red-hot. First, the Five Hundred Year Green Snake Poison Orchid was added and slowly dissolved, followed by the Seven Extremes Bitter Root.

The two ingredients needed to combine well, their medicinal properties harmonizing, before other Spiritual Medicines could be added.

The fusion of ingredients was slow. Other Spiritual Medicines were added successively, with fine adjustments made throughout the concoction process.

The Five Hundred Year Youqing Fruit was the most difficult to dissolve. The Earth Fire was pushed to its peak, meticulously eliminating impurities from the ingredients. It took seven days for them to slowly fuse.

After twenty-five days, Jia Ren slowly opened his eyes. Inside the Alchemy Furnace, three perfectly rounded Qilong Pills were particularly eye-catching.

It was a success!

Jia Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.

The Qilong Pill was the most difficult Elixir he had ever attempted. Despite his expertise, he had almost failed on his first try.

Only by relying on his superior Alchemy Skills, carefully observing the integration of medicinal properties, and making numerous adjustments, did he manage to salvage it.

Someone without his level of Alchemy Skills, who could achieve four successful batches out of ten, could already be deemed an Alchemy Master.

The second attempt at Alchemy should be much easier. Advancing to an Extraordinary Saint Level in fire control would save even more time... The time for each batch of pill concoction could be reduced to twenty days.

Jia Ren possessed highly advanced Alchemy and fire control techniques, which allowed him to concoct pills much faster than ordinary people.

An Ordinary Alchemist would need at least two to three months to concoct a single batch of Qilong Pills...

Such long concoction times required constant focus on the Qilong Pills, leading to fewer successful outcomes and a higher failure rate.

No wonder Alchemists are reluctant to concoct Qilong Pills...

At twenty days per batch, if he devoted all his time to Alchemy, he could produce at most eighteen batches in a year. Even with his extremely high Alchemy Skills, ensuring a stable success rate of three pills per batch, he could only produce fifty-four Qilong Pills after a year of nonstop work.

The Internal Affairs Director of the Town Demon Alliance really wanted to trap me!

Five hundred Qilong Pills... This kind of high efficiency, working tirelessly day and night for nearly ten years, was required to fulfill the contract.

What about ordinary alchemists? Not to mention how many pills they could successfully create. To produce five hundred Qilong Pills in ten years, considering the massive amount of spiritual medicine consumed, an alchemist would likely bankrupt themselves...

Truly ruthless! He was extremely relieved that he hadn’t listened to the Internal Affairs Manager and signed a cooperation contract. Otherwise, he would have truly stepped into an abyss.

Once alchemy starts, it cannot be stopped. After each successful furnace, I’ll rest for ten days to ensure I maintain my cultivation. In the remaining time, I can also produce ten furnaces of Qilong Pills, which can yield thirty Qilong Pills, and obtain three hundred and thirty thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points.

There is another way to increase the yield of pills. The Dragging Pill Technique.

This was a Pill Refining Secret Technique he had discovered on Star Pole Island; a newly arrived Loose Cultivator had submitted it to the Transmission Hall.

This method, usable only in alchemy, was considered a heterodox approach.

The Dragging Pill Technique increased yield per batch at the cost of elixir quality.

The Qilong Pills Jia Ren produced were of remarkable quality, and this quality would only improve with practice. He couldn’t afford to sell such premium pills at a bargain.

If the Town Demon Alliance showed some conscience and offered more Town Demon Alliance contribution points, that would be one thing. However, if they purchased at the regular price, he would suffer a loss.

The Internal Affairs Manager was too greedy. Jia Ren didn’t believe the other party would have an epiphany and offer a higher purchase price.

The Dragging Pill Technique reduced elixir quality, but as long as he didn’t overdo it with each batch, the quality wouldn’t be worse than the Qilong Pills circulating in the market.

Producing more Qilong Pills per batch would make it easier to reach the three hundred thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points target.

Jia Ren didn’t rush to start alchemy. He sat cross-legged to recover his spiritual power, running the Seven Revolutions Mysterious Primordial Secret Technique to refine the spiritual power within his body.

Before his next Realm breakthrough, he couldn’t make any further progress in cultivation level.

He could only focus on cultivating the Seven Revolutions Mysterious Primordial Secret Technique. As his proficiency level continuously improved, his spiritual power became increasingly pure.

This would be greatly beneficial for forming his Golden Core.

Several hours later, Jia Ren opened his eyes. Listening to the reports from the Insect External Incarnation, a cold glint appeared in his eyes. I can’t buy the main ingredient for the Qilong Pill...

Within a month, the Insect External Incarnation had scoured all accessible markets, only to find that the main ingredients for Qilong Pills were completely sold out.

"The Town Demon Alliance purchased all the main ingredients for the Qilong Pills... The subsequent main ingredients will also continue to be delivered to them, and it will be very difficult to buy these key ingredients in the short term."

"For a month now, someone has been tracking me, using a rare Earth Hiding secret technique."

While others would find it difficult to detect someone using an Earth Hiding technique, Jia Ren was an exception.

He unexpectedly obtained the Earth Vision Technique during his second participation in an exchange meeting.

The Earth Vision Technique wasn’t particularly useful, so after reaching the Master Level, he hadn’t invested much more effort into it.

There were too many superior secret techniques; he didn’t have the time to cultivate them.

The Insect External Incarnation only discovered the tracker when it sensed it was being spied upon and subsequently used the Earth Vision Technique.

This individual had been tracking it for over a month, constantly shadowing its movements.

The Town Demon Alliance buying up the main Qilong Pill ingredients and sending someone to secretly follow him—their intentions were glaringly obvious.

What went wrong?

The Insect External Incarnation had been extremely cautious from the start, avoiding the use of any items that might attract trouble, such as the Banishing Evil Talisman or the Suppressing Fiend Holy Fire Command.

The most likely reason was the envy provoked by his five Golden Core Stage Flying Stiffs.

There was another possibility...

The Insect External Incarnation Secret Art!

Just because Golden Core Cultivators couldn’t see through the Insect External Incarnation didn’t mean that Nascent Soul Old Monsters couldn’t.

A secret technique with a proficiency level reaching the Technique-Nearing-Dao Level was valuable enough to be the cornerstone of a Great Sect.

Such a technique, capable of founding a sect, would undoubtedly tempt others if discovered.

Simply killing and looting wouldn’t work to acquire the Insect External Incarnation Secret Art.

The one operating outside was the Insect External Incarnation, not his true self.

Without locating his true self, they wouldn’t dare make a rash move and alert him, thus losing their chance to obtain the Insect External Incarnation Secret Art.

They were hiding in the shadows, attempting to find his true self.

His first thought was to flee—the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus be damned! No treasure was worth more than his own life. A Nascent Soul Old Monster was not an existence he could afford to provoke.

Hand over the Insect External Incarnation for a deal? Exchange it for the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus and the method to refine the Demon-Sealing Tower? Was he to hope for the kindness and goodness of a Nascent Soul Cultivator?! That would be foolish.

Moreover, even if he managed to gather enough Qilong Pills, escaping safely from under the noses of Nascent Soul level cultivators would be incredibly difficult.

Alas, I must leave...

Just as Jia Ren resolved to leave, a new idea struck him.

There was still a chance!

He could bypass the Town Demon Alliance and directly trade a large quantity of Qilong Pills with the Sect Disciples who were offering the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus for exchange.

As long as there was profit involved, it wouldn’t be difficult to obtain the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus through others, effectively mitigating the risks.